


To the beat of the drums

by gloatingraccoon



Series: Paid In Full [12]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Celebrations, Dancing, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Formalwear, Gen, POV Multiple, Pairings and characters to be added as they appear, Party, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-28 01:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloatingraccoon/pseuds/gloatingraccoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been a whole three perigees since you settled down on the new planet, you are all still alive and well, and for once you have the opportunity to just hang out together again without impending collapse-of-paradox-space scenarios. To many of your group, this would seem like a decent enough reason to get off your asses and celebrate a little, but we don't know what you think about it yet, because we don't yet know who you are.</p><p>Somewhere on this new planet, there is a young troll... or a young human? Let's just say there is a young former SBURB/SGRUB player, and a party is underway. What will the name of this young former player be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So while you're here in my arms

**Author's Note:**

> Collection of drabbles and scenes set around and during the party the group decides to have at the village around 3 perigees from the arrival on the new planet. They can be read independently, although the events from the various perspectives can overlap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written as a drabble request for tumblr user miss-whimsical, who requested an Aradia/Sollux drabble about prom, in either honor or prom season. We don't really have prom here in Italy, so being uncertain as to what was expected in such an occasion, I went for the next best thing: a drabble about Aradia and Sollux getting ready for That Big Party I've had in mind from a while for Paid In Full - formalwear included.

**> Enter name.**

You are **Sollux Captor** and this is already sucking globes before even beginning. The suit Kanaya made for you is actually pretty cool, simple and elegant, and she even snuck some asymmetry in to play to your duality penchant - or at least, it would look pretty cool on someone else, someone you can actually imagine wearing a suit or caring about it. You’re just not used to this kind of clothes, everything keeps shifting and pulling and you’re as uncomfortable as Equius watching wildlife documentaries. Ok, maybe not that much, and not for the same reasons, but you are starting to sweat a little with frustration. Your button-up shirt has something wrong and it doesn’t seem to want to cooperate.

"This is stupid," you say, and to your right, Aradia snorts a chuckle, pulling at your arm to make you turn around.

“You’re stupid,” she says, making short work of your buttons and starting over again. You groan, but let her do it. “See? You were mismatching holes and buttons. Start from the bottom to be safe, it’s simpler like that.”

“Yeah well, I’m not used to formal stuff is all,” you say, proceeding to stuff your shirt into your suit pants as soon as she’s done. “And I don’t really see the point.”

She shrug and turns around, sliding her skirt down her legs and tossing her blouse up over her head. You have a moment to catch a glimpse of simple, black underwear before her fluffy waves of hair fall back down, covering her skin, and it’s definitely not the first time you see it, but you still get distracted for a moment as you button your jacket.

“Well, how to put this?” she says, not looking at you as she slips on her dress. “The point is that it’s been a whole three perigees since we’ve settled down here, we’re all still alive and well, and we have the opportunity to just hang out all together again without impending death of the universe scenarios. Seems to me like a decent enough reason to get off our asses and celebrate a little.” She scoots closer to you, moving her hair to the front to expose the open dress on her back. “Zip me up?”

“Uh. Sure,” you say with a shrug, and you put a hand on her hip to carefully draw up the zipper. “AA, it’s just… you know how it is. I’m going to be bored to death, and ruin your fun.”

“What was that, a threat?” She snickers, and she turns around to look at you and check the buttons and folds in your jacket. You never had an eye for fashion details, like most trolls, but you can tell Kanaya put a lot of thought in her dress as well: it’s a deep maroon red with black trimming and a light, delicate flower fantasy, with the same essential yet elegant look as yours, and it seems to fall weightless around her, complimenting her curvy figure. She’s just gorgeous, although you have to admit she always looks gorgeous to you, even when she sleeps with her mouth open in her old pajamas, and you realize it isn’t really anything about the dress but about the way she looks so confident and comfortable in it, and most of all the way she smiles when she raises her head to look at you, as if you were really worth looking at for some reason. She must notice you’re getting lost in thought by your expression, because a puzzled shadow bends her eyebrows for a moment.

“You know, I wouldn’t be so sure it’s going to be that boring,” she says, squeezing your hands. “Everybody’s been setting up their own thing for tonight. Kanaya’s been having fun designing formal clothes for all, but if you don’t feel like dancing, you can eat, you can drink, and you can play games.”

Your eyebrows sprint up for a moment. Now this is unexpected.

“Games you say? What kind of games?”

“Well, there’s a few!” She shrugs, looking away with a mock uninterested expression. “Some are just fun challenges you can do with friends. And I know for a fact that Roxy and the Striders have been working on some super secret multiplayer simulation project, and they’re going to make a big show of it tonight.” She turns to you, holding a finger to her mouth and narrowing her eyes in a show of sneaky attitude. “But I haven’t told you anything, of course.”

Your eyebrows travel up to see more of the world once again, but this time you smile at her theatrics.

“That’s… sort of interesting, actually. And you know about this because?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Because I even leave the house once in a while?” She chuckles, and she surprises you as she slips her arms around your neck to draw you closer, but it’s a welcome surprise. Your hands cup her waist and as she leans in to kiss your lips softly you shiver, adjusting to her heat. It’s a familiar sensation, her soft, supple curves against your bony frame, and like so many times before you feel like you know her, you really do, and it’s both intimacy and affection, it’s the weight and the warmth of sweeps spent growing up together, despite that blasted stupid Game and all the hardships you’ve faced. You know her and she knows what you need, she knows what to say, she knows you better than you know yourself, and it scares you sometimes, but you love it. You love her, and you probably don’t tell her nearly enough, but you’ve never been any good with words. You just hope she knows this too. When she breaks the kiss to look at you, she’s still smiling, but she’s more pensive than amused now.

“I need you to be a part of this, Sollux… that’s all. I promise you’ll have fun tonight, and I will too. And if there’s something you really don’t like, you know what? I’m pretty sure Karkat needs a bitching partner for tonight, so you’ll have fun all the same!”

She snickers at that and you follow, but yours is more of a sour laugh as usual. You shake your head, caressing her face, and you just know you’re going to feel like an idiot for saying what you’re about to say, but as many other times before, you just can’t help it.

“Why do you even put up with me?”

She rolls her eyes, but still smiles at you, squeezing your hand.

“Maybe I just really, really like you. Have you ever thought about that, mister Captor?”


	2. The most of the night

**> Sollux: accelerate.**

Feferi’s been touching you all night. Never being clingy or too forward, she’s just been right there with you all along, leaning on your arm, taking your hand in hers, sharing her bag of tiny fried squid with you (now seriously, how tasty were those things?). Oh, and the dancing.

Feferi is an excellent dancer, skilled and graceful. You suppose it was part of her education as an Heiress to learn, some sort of high society privilege shit.

You can’t dance worth shit. You just don’t like it and don’t care, but then she gives you the pouty pufferfish look with a promise of “awww but just this time!”, and you indulge her for a bit.

You have no idea what you’re doing, and you keep snickering nervously and making snarky remarks at yourself each time you mess up or fail to interpret her movements, which is often. She just giggles and counters your self loathing with jokes and puns, doing her best to keep leading you. You feel like a doll in her hands, but a stiff, wonky, badly designed doll. You’re rarely self conscious about your appearance, but you’re out of your element now, and you can’t help but think of what a poor spectacle the worker bee must be offering his queen. You can’t wait for the song to end so you can go back to your seat and chat with Karkat, but the way she looks at you, her smile, the way she feels in your arms, pressed against you plane to plane, makes everything better. When the song eventually ends, she hugs you tenderly, pressing her soft cheek against yours, and you hug her back.

Next thing you’re back at the table, reassuring her you won’t get bored, and that is the only time of the night when she leaves you. She dances with Nepeta something fast and goofy, and they keep messing up the steps and breaking into histerical laughing. She dances with Kanaya, and it looks like she finally found her ideal partner, balanced and elegant in everything to counter her excessive enthusiasm. She dances with Eridan, and you realize that no, he is her perfect match instead. Eridan is a good dancer, although stiffer and more nervous in his movements than her, but every move she makes, the way she seems to flow and ripple around him, sweetens him until they fit perfectly. The form of their fingers clenched together, her soft curves against his strong, lean frame, the warmth and intimacy in the way they hold each other. They really were made for each other, an empress and her prince, and you almost feel uncomfortable watching them.

You’re not jealous. You’re in no position to be territorial about your quadrants, messed up as they are, and it’s never come spontaneously to you. You know Eridan has been her first, you’re sure they have sex at least as regularly as you and Aradia do, you’re sure she enjoys it (unless she made all those delightful little noises you heard once while passing in front of his door just for show, which you highly doubt), and you don’t really care. You even sort of like the idea, which probably makes you a bit of a sick fuck, but what else is new. It gives you more ways to get Eridan flustered, which is precious fuel for your kismesissitude, and being attracted to both of them has a lot to do with it. It’s just weird to realize how much they belong together. You search for Aradia in the crowd and you find her near the cotton candy stand, laughing and discussing something with Vriska and Terezi, and you cringe. You and Aradia don’t have much time left to spend together, and you know it. Your precious rustblooded girl will be gone in 20, 25 sweeps at maximum and you’ll lose her again. In 40 sweeps you’ll be dead, while in a 1000 sweeps from now Eridan will still be in the prime of his life, and he will still be there by Feferi’s side, you’re sure of it. You doubt he could ever be flushed for anybody else but her, really, and all of his romantic rambling aside, you’re sure he’d find himself another kismesis after your death soon enough. It would only be natural, and he’d keep himself sane that way. Maybe he’d hook up with someone closer to his lifespan this time, maybe patch things up with Vriska.

It’s just weird to realize that although you blow through days as if all of this, the closest thing you have to a family now, were eternal, it’s actually far from it. Some day two out of the four of you will be gone. You will be gone, and your seadwellers won’t need you anymore.

Another song is over, Eridan gets sort of kidnapped by Vriska and Jake, who look very excited about something you're not sure you want to know, and Feferi comes back to sit with you with a huge fruity drink just when you were starting to get one of your moods.

"Woohoo! Now that was fun. My feet are destroyed! Nepeta looks tiny but when she steps on your toe, damn! She means business," she says, then she takes a long sip from the straw. You don't have the energy for someone that outrageously in a good mood right now, but only Feferi can make physical injury sound like having the time of your life, and that at least brings half a smile to your face, taking your mind off your dark thoughts. "Even you don't dance, Krabcakes?"

You can just see the supreme effort it takes Karkat not to roll his eyes at his brand new fishy nickname. Feferi keeps inventing them just for him for some obscure reason and each one is worse than its predecessors. You can just see the effort because he spectacularly fails, which only makes you grin wider. You know Karkat actually cares about Feferi just as the rest of his friends, although they're not particularly close: he just finds her irredeemably obnoxious at times. Feferi, on the other hand, can be a little clueless when it comes to reading people, and you figure she just assumes she has to try harder. Which can turn having the both of them around into an exercise in involuntary slapstick comedy.

"Oh no, Feferi," Karkat says eventually, "it's much better to stay here, get stuffed on fries and talk shit about other people. For instance, now I know what colour John's underwear is and I assure you I didn't even want to know, but his pants keep sagging down and there you go, welcome to eyeball-searing yellow apocalypse. I have no idea why Rose lets him leave the house like that, really."

"Oh my glub, you're such a gossip!" Feferi chuckles, and you roll your eyes.

"That's your fault for keeping on looking at John's ass, idiot," you say, and bingo, with perfect timing there comes Karkat's little frustrated growl.

"Oh for fuck's sake, will you give it a rest? It's been over two sweeps and I just like to make fun of the guy, ok? Is it that terrible?"

"You're the one who's making a big deal about it here..." You shrug with a mock innocent tone.

"I don't see what the problem is either!" Feferi says after another long gulp from her drink. "I mean, I'm not black for Vriska but I still think her hair looks like a pufferfish crapped itself! And so?"

This time you actually crack up laughing at the image and Karkat chokes on a french fry. He keeps coughing, until a vigorous back slap from Feferi and a sip she offers from her drink solve the issue.

"Holy... shit, this thing is sweet and acid like there's no tomorrow. Good, but though as nails," Karkat says after he collects himself. "And I didn't know you could be this nasty, Feferi, that's good to know!"

He's doing that thing where he almost smiles but doesn't really want to, and you can see Feferi's triumphant glow in having won at least a sign of appreciation from the crabbiest guy.

"Remember, this is the woman that pranked Vriska into thinking she was depressed and needed a feelings jam from her of all people. Don't underestimate her!" You smirk, and she chuckles.

"You remember! I made you proud that time, didn't I?"

You smile and nod. She made you more than proud. She made you laugh and let you be silly when you thought you couldn't anymore, and you don't think you can properly repay that, ever. It sure tells you something that one of the highlights of your time on the meteor was pulling a stupid prank on Vriska. She must know your mind is elsewhere because she furrows her brow and her smile gets pensive as she looks at you. Karkat clears up his throat nervously.

"Ok guys, I'd better have a talk with John about his stupid pants before they definitely drop to his ankles and we're all traumatized. See you around," he says, carefully avoiding crossing either of your stares, then he gets up and disappears in direction of John's blue silhouette, and you know that your little moment did not go unnoticed.

You have a moment to regret inadvertently making your friend uncomfortable, then you thank him, because your eyes meet hers again, that bittersweetness in her smile, that curve in her brow that speaks of fondness and worry, of courage and caring - and you know where you've seen it all before, you remember the damp dusty air of the lab in the Veil and Gamzee's stupid horns poking at your ribs, and the feeling that beat in your chest whenever she looked at you like that, the sudden, crazy certainty that in the face of all doom and misery there was still something worth fighting for, something to hope for. That same feeling, that same light in her eyes, is still here. She takes your hand in hers and you shiver, maybe because she's just that much colder than you, or maybe not.

"Let's go for a walk," she says.

You follow her without a word as she gets up.

(You forget her drink still half full on the table, and you don't give a shit.)


End file.
